Mavericks All-Star goaltender Luka Doncic finds his groove with another triple-double | Top stories

Five days after ending Chicago’s NBA-record nine-game winning streak, the Dallas Mavericks snapped the Memphis Grizzlies’ 11-game streak with a 112-85 comeback victory at the FedEx Forum.

Luka Doncic notched his 40th career triple-double, finishing the game with 27 points, 12 rebounds and 10 assists.

NBA League Pass: Sign Up to Unlock Live Off Market Games (7 Day Free Trial)

Doncic became just the eleventh player in NBA history to hit 40 career triple-doubles. For reference, there have been 80 triple-doubles in Mavericks history – Doncic is responsible for half of them.

The Slovenian achieved the feat in just his 226th career game, the second fewest games to reach 40 triple-doubles in NBA history (Oscar Robertson, 92 games).

Doncic had been inconsistent to start this season and his overall numbers were down from last season. Many began to wonder if it was his conditioning – or lack thereof – that was causing the problem.

But Doncic missed part of the time with an ankle injury, and he also spent time under league health and safety protocols. He re-injured his ankle in a loss to the Pacers and was scheduled to return Dec. 23, but was sidelined for five more games after going into protocols Dec. 22.

Doncic has missed 15 games for Dallas this season and the Mavericks are 6-9 in those games, underscoring his importance to this team.

Since the release of the protocols on January 1, however, Doncic has played at an extremely high level. Over his last five games, he’s averaged a triple-double of 23.4 points, 10.0 rebounds and 10.2 assists.

The Mavericks are 4-1 in those games and have won eight of their last 10, really hitting their stride. As a result, they slipped to fifth in the Western Conference standings at 23-19, though they were still five games behind the fourth-place Utah Jazz.

The Mavs host the Orlando Magic at American Airlines Arena on Saturday.